Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-08
MALCONTENTS.
CONFLICTING REPORTS ABOUT TIE
CARS DANGER.
Significance OF Recent Events in 81. Pc
tersburg-Misinformation Indus
triously Circulated.

been second attempt upon the Cars
life. or is the tale thereof merely one
of those sensational reports like those
of the murder by his Majesty OF Count
Reuiorn and Colonel Vuillaume Tho
Tritish press afiirms the fact 80 does
the Figaro, which gives circumstantial
details Of the incident, processing the
exact spot Thirty yards distance
from the Chateau OF Gatschina -
where the would-be assassin stood
when he fred at his sovereign, and
adds that she had n bottle of
strychnine to pour on his vic
TINS wounds" On the other hand,
the whole story is officially de-
MED by the Russian press and by such
members of the Russian colony i'll
Paris as are IN a position to be inform
ed if anything had really happened, all
Of them not being friends and adj
mirers os the Emperor, and whose
opinion and sources of knowledge are
certainly at least worth as much as
those entertained and possessed by any
English reporter or by the editorial
staff of the Figaro. Consequently the
matter must remain a mystery, but
given the fact tina. the rumor-if
it be nothing but rumor-
has circulated, it is evidence that
the situation in Russia is ex-
tremely serious, and if it be permitted
to apply to Slavia, term borrowed
from the political vocabulary of West
ern Europe, that it has become revo-
lutionary. The Nihilists have again
come upon the stage, and it cannot be
doubted that as these sectaries always
operate by series of outrages, the
abortive attempt of the 18th of March
is the beginning of new era of crime.
When Alexander H., the liberator of
the serfs, who had bafiled seven pre-
vious attempts of the regicides, fell
as fell Lincoln, the emancipation of
the slaves, it was fsncied by the
sect that fears OF like fate
would force his successor to come to
terms. Quite the contrary was the re-
suit far from continuing in the policy
OF reform which his father had begun,
Alexander LII. declared that his inten-
ton was to maintain intact and abso-
lutely the principle of Czarism, and the
Nihilists, apparently discouraged by
their want of success seemed to aban-
don their terrible work, so that during
six years nothing serious was signalled-
that is, nothing against the person OF
the sovereign, nothing more than the
sssassinations of n general at Odessa,
of colonel of artillery at Gomel, and
of police superintendent at st. Peters
burg.
Last winter, however clandestine
newspaper, the NdrOdnd1d I'Oiia-the
Liberty of the People-published
threatening declaration to the effect
that the Executive Committee would
grant final respite of six months to
the Government, at the expiration OF
which, if no constitution were given to
the empire, hostilities would recon-
mence. Those six months ended on
the lst of March, 1887, and thirteen
days afterwards came the Moskaia af-
fair, which, | repeat, is in all proba-
bility the first act of "a new regicide
drama. Lieutenant-General Gressis,
formerly grand master of the police,
and at present project of the capital,
has never relaxed in vigilance, and two
years ago discovered the retreat ofseve-
Ial Nihilist conspiratOrs in the immedi-
ate neighborhood ofthe Anitchof palace,
where the Gar habitually resides when
in St. Petersburg. But it is no easy
matter to follow the workings of indi-
viduals who proceed by isolated acts,
who are careful not to compromise
themselves in any overt lnSurrectlOnal
movement, and who are merely the
passive agents Of an occult committee,
Of which the composition is unknown
even to its emissaries. Still, whether a
warning was really sent on from Ber
lin, as has been affirmed, or was COM
municated to the police from Berne, as
is more probable, it is certain that
enough was learned to prevent the ac-
complishment of the plot and to enable
the police to arrest the accomplices of
those who were intrusted with its exc
cution.
Yet neither General Grissler nor
General Orjowsky is relieved from all
anxiety when the Gar is domiciled at
Gatschina, which is by no means a soil
tary retreat, but is surrounded by vii
lss-almost a town, in fact-and, as the
point of junction of several railway
lines, is centre of movement OF con-
siderable importance. Nor is the Cars
residence there in any way secluded.
He and his Empress 60, of course,
freely between the chateau and thecapi-
tai, never missing any Of the civil or
military ceremonies, neglecting none
Of the duties incumbent upon their
position, driving to and fro in a
sleigh or in an open carriage, accord
ing to the season, visiting every quar-
ter OF the environs and without any
escort. They were present at a r3OW
given by the Grand Duke Vladimir on
the day following the attempted assas-
sination, and every afternoon they ln-
spect some hospital or other public
establishment, which is always pre-
informed of the visit This absence OF
all pomp and parade makes a great i'm
preston upon the masses, with whom
Alexander III. is deservedly popular,
but it increases naturally the anxiety of
those who are intrusted with the safety
of a sovereign who will take no precau
tons to insure it.
On the anniversary of his accession
to the throne all St. Petersburg was
dcckod out with flags, the streets were
Illuminated, the theatres were opened
to the public gratis, and the Champ de
Mars was turned into an immense fair
ground. 1t was the favorable moment
for popular insurrectional movement,
if such a thing really existed, yet
through all this agglomeration of work
ingmen the Gar passed about freely
and unguarded, and from all hernet
with a reception rs spontaneous as it
was enthusiastic. The Iime8-the Lon
don institution of that name | mean
now one of the least well Informed news
papers on the globe, pretends that the
recent plot is due to the revival OF the
constitutional movement. This is alb
solutely false. 1t is unfortunately true
that few days before the attempt the
Russian Liberals did hold meeting at
ST. Petersburg TO concert openly plan
of campaign with the object of certain
constitutional guarantees, that o series
r -, x.oto1 L. ko Assam